This post is going to give you a tool which will allow you to
But first, a mini-rant on YOUR PRICING of Your copywriting services. BEGIN RANT:
Copywriter, YOUR business is NONE of my business. Charge whatever you want. I don't care. Price your services in accord with YOUR needs, wants and don't concern yourself with outside opinions. END RANT.
On to helping you get gigs, no matter what you charge.
This tool you are about to see may be one you are familiar with, however, I'm going to show you a different way to THINK about it and show you how to use it.
No STRANGER wakes up in the morning thinking of you or your product.
Your hottest prospect, your most likely buyer, has OTHER things on her mind. It is your job as a salesperson to get insider her head, know what she is thinking and craft a PROMOTION which
resonates with her preoccupation of your subject.
We all live in our own little bubbles, we have our own concerns, needs, wants, desires and it is your job to get inside their bubble and see the world from their perspective as it concerns whatever you are trying to get them to do.
Copywriting is writing which uses SALESMANSHIP, and a good salesperson has a good grasp of human psychology, behavior and motivation. This tool will help you with all of those things IF you actually take the time to use it.
The tool is the Maslow Pryamid.
Abraham Maslow deserves some of your time, Wiki him
for more information. Here is a simple and basic Maslow Pyramid.
The base of the Pyramid are basic human needs and wants, although this one doesn't show beer, wine, alcohol, cigarettes or drugs on it, you have to use your imagination.
As you go up the pyramid, we see people get away from BASE needs to a more thoughtful level, they go from the body to the mind. There is also a corresponding DOLLAR significance too, in general, as people go up the pyramid of wants and needs, they have a tendency to make more money.
It makes sense the minimum wage worker is concerned about making it through the day, while the person at the top, seeking self-actualization has the 10 thousand bux to spend for an Arizona sweat lodge which will help them get in touch with their authentic self.
Let me show you how to use this tool to find work, OK?
On the bottom we see BREATHING. You can go days without food or water, not 5 minutes without breathing (with rare exceptions).
So what?
Go to google, you may want to open another browser window, and type in COPD, which stands for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. Open the top 5 search returns and take a QUICK look at what the sites are about. Then, open up the ADS to the right of the search results. Why?
Because these people PAID to be there and they have something they are SELLING. Find a company with something to sell, and you've found a potential client, see?
Top spots for COPD belong, for the most part, to Big Pharm, with one of their drugs for sale, and they encourage you to see your doctor.
Do searches for Asthma, Chronic Bronchitis, Breathing Disorder, Apnea and whatever else the search turns up for BREATHING. You will find hundreds of products being sold from a simple strip you put on your nose at night (great invention which has made someone a fortune) to help you breath to thousand dollar devices which may save your life.
If you know a person with any of these PROBLEMS, you know they spend a lot of their time inside their bubbles THINKING about relief, a solution or a cure to this problem.
So, as a copywriter, you may write a promotion which one of those ads connect with, and you KNOW what is on the searcher's mind at the time of the click, and IF you resonate with this person, that is, if you get their immediate ATTENTION and hold it until there is an action requirement, your copy has a good chance to work.
Food, the next WORD on the MP, and I know some of you, the lazy ones, will only see a word and won't take the time to do the searches, so be it. But for those of you who do this, your eyes will open to the huge world of copywriting possibility because there are so many clients in waiting.
Food. Remote Direct Selling. Harry and David (and if you don't know who they are, quit calling yourself a copywriter until you do, ok?) and Omaha Steaks, just two of thousands of food businesses who use Remote Direct Selling, mostly built upon a direct mail piece.
Search for FOOD GIFTS. Do the same thing, visit the sites that come up to see what this niche looks like, then hit the links to the ads to see who is spending advertising dollars to get eyeballs and study their PROMOTIONS, and many are ME>ME>ME landing pages which talk about the company...and is ripe for the picking for a savvy copywriter who can create a sales page for them.
Again, you know what is on the reader's mind at the time of the clickthrough, they want to get someone a gift and feel that food is a good choice. FOOD is one of the primary preoccupations on all of our minds, and some are so preoccupied with food, it becomes an addiction and an obsession.
Which leads to the most obese nation ever on this earth, and IF you were to google obesity, and do the same thing to visit sites and click on ads, you would see even more opportunity.
There is, of course, the evergreen Weight Loss/Diet markets, which are there because of the preoccupation by millions with what goes down their throats.
Do this same exercise for water, shelter, clothing and then go up the pyramid. At the top you'll find the Tony Robbins 15 thousand dollar get away to his private island and the whole self-actualization businesses.
The Maslow Pyramid is a great STARTING point for you to find very HUNGRY niches of people and to find current companies, who are using copywriters, who market and sell stuff to these people.
Do this exercise and you will literally be exposed to scores of copywriting opportunities and perhaps come across a niche where you have an affinity or a passion about and it would be a great place for you to start.
Using the MP will help you to understand where the INTERSECTIONS of PROMOTIONS and PROSPECTS are, and why that is the best TIME to present your PRODUCT, when it is currently on their minds.
Feel free to ask questions, I've got a few more days in the desert before I go back to CA, at which time I will not be on the Internet very much. Go ahead, shoot.
- Find a Starving Niche (or Market, or Passion Group or Hot PROSPECT)
- Understand what they are thinking and how you can get into their head
- Starving PROSPECT
- Hunger satisfying PRODUCT
- Sales PROMOTION and point of purchase
- INTERSECTION of their desire/your PROMOTION
- TIMING of the meeting at the INTERSECTION
But first, a mini-rant on YOUR PRICING of Your copywriting services. BEGIN RANT:
Copywriter, YOUR business is NONE of my business. Charge whatever you want. I don't care. Price your services in accord with YOUR needs, wants and don't concern yourself with outside opinions. END RANT.
On to helping you get gigs, no matter what you charge.
This tool you are about to see may be one you are familiar with, however, I'm going to show you a different way to THINK about it and show you how to use it.
No STRANGER wakes up in the morning thinking of you or your product.
Your hottest prospect, your most likely buyer, has OTHER things on her mind. It is your job as a salesperson to get insider her head, know what she is thinking and craft a PROMOTION which
resonates with her preoccupation of your subject.
We all live in our own little bubbles, we have our own concerns, needs, wants, desires and it is your job to get inside their bubble and see the world from their perspective as it concerns whatever you are trying to get them to do.
Copywriting is writing which uses SALESMANSHIP, and a good salesperson has a good grasp of human psychology, behavior and motivation. This tool will help you with all of those things IF you actually take the time to use it.
The tool is the Maslow Pryamid.
Abraham Maslow deserves some of your time, Wiki him
for more information. Here is a simple and basic Maslow Pyramid.
The base of the Pyramid are basic human needs and wants, although this one doesn't show beer, wine, alcohol, cigarettes or drugs on it, you have to use your imagination.
As you go up the pyramid, we see people get away from BASE needs to a more thoughtful level, they go from the body to the mind. There is also a corresponding DOLLAR significance too, in general, as people go up the pyramid of wants and needs, they have a tendency to make more money.
It makes sense the minimum wage worker is concerned about making it through the day, while the person at the top, seeking self-actualization has the 10 thousand bux to spend for an Arizona sweat lodge which will help them get in touch with their authentic self.
Let me show you how to use this tool to find work, OK?
On the bottom we see BREATHING. You can go days without food or water, not 5 minutes without breathing (with rare exceptions).
So what?
Go to google, you may want to open another browser window, and type in COPD, which stands for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. Open the top 5 search returns and take a QUICK look at what the sites are about. Then, open up the ADS to the right of the search results. Why?
Because these people PAID to be there and they have something they are SELLING. Find a company with something to sell, and you've found a potential client, see?
Top spots for COPD belong, for the most part, to Big Pharm, with one of their drugs for sale, and they encourage you to see your doctor.
Do searches for Asthma, Chronic Bronchitis, Breathing Disorder, Apnea and whatever else the search turns up for BREATHING. You will find hundreds of products being sold from a simple strip you put on your nose at night (great invention which has made someone a fortune) to help you breath to thousand dollar devices which may save your life.
If you know a person with any of these PROBLEMS, you know they spend a lot of their time inside their bubbles THINKING about relief, a solution or a cure to this problem.
So, as a copywriter, you may write a promotion which one of those ads connect with, and you KNOW what is on the searcher's mind at the time of the click, and IF you resonate with this person, that is, if you get their immediate ATTENTION and hold it until there is an action requirement, your copy has a good chance to work.
Food, the next WORD on the MP, and I know some of you, the lazy ones, will only see a word and won't take the time to do the searches, so be it. But for those of you who do this, your eyes will open to the huge world of copywriting possibility because there are so many clients in waiting.
Food. Remote Direct Selling. Harry and David (and if you don't know who they are, quit calling yourself a copywriter until you do, ok?) and Omaha Steaks, just two of thousands of food businesses who use Remote Direct Selling, mostly built upon a direct mail piece.
Search for FOOD GIFTS. Do the same thing, visit the sites that come up to see what this niche looks like, then hit the links to the ads to see who is spending advertising dollars to get eyeballs and study their PROMOTIONS, and many are ME>ME>ME landing pages which talk about the company...and is ripe for the picking for a savvy copywriter who can create a sales page for them.
Again, you know what is on the reader's mind at the time of the clickthrough, they want to get someone a gift and feel that food is a good choice. FOOD is one of the primary preoccupations on all of our minds, and some are so preoccupied with food, it becomes an addiction and an obsession.
Which leads to the most obese nation ever on this earth, and IF you were to google obesity, and do the same thing to visit sites and click on ads, you would see even more opportunity.
There is, of course, the evergreen Weight Loss/Diet markets, which are there because of the preoccupation by millions with what goes down their throats.
Do this same exercise for water, shelter, clothing and then go up the pyramid. At the top you'll find the Tony Robbins 15 thousand dollar get away to his private island and the whole self-actualization businesses.
The Maslow Pyramid is a great STARTING point for you to find very HUNGRY niches of people and to find current companies, who are using copywriters, who market and sell stuff to these people.
Do this exercise and you will literally be exposed to scores of copywriting opportunities and perhaps come across a niche where you have an affinity or a passion about and it would be a great place for you to start.
Using the MP will help you to understand where the INTERSECTIONS of PROMOTIONS and PROSPECTS are, and why that is the best TIME to present your PRODUCT, when it is currently on their minds.
Feel free to ask questions, I've got a few more days in the desert before I go back to CA, at which time I will not be on the Internet very much. Go ahead, shoot.
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